'Hey Chicago, what do you say?' Officially a Cub, Imanaga sets eyes on winning

CHICAGO -- After buttoning up his new Cubs jersey and donning his hat on Friday, Shōta Imanaga leaned forward toward the microphone in front of him and surveyed the banquet hall inside the Loews Chicago Hotel.

“Hey Chicago, what do you say?” Imanaga said in English. “Cubs are gonna win today.”

Before the opening ceremonies of the Cubs Convention even began, Imanaga did his part to start winning over the team’s fans.

Not only did Chicago’s newest addition begin his tenure on the North Side by reciting those lines from the team’s famous win song, “Go, Cubs, Go,” but he explained that he chose to wear No. 18 to honor 2016 World Series MVP Ben Zobrist. Imanaga -- signed to a four-year contract on Thursday -- said he wanted to follow Zobrist’s example of doing whatever it took to win.

Talk about making a strong first impression with Cubs fans and his teammates.

• Get to know Shōta Imanaga

“He had a nice introduction,” Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner said. “It seems like he's got a good sense of humor, so that's a good start. And then obviously he has a great skillset that our front office really believes in, and I'm excited to get to know him and his game better.”

One of the tasks for the Cubs this offseason was to add an impact arm to the starting rotation. Imanaga checks that box, and Hoyer noted that Chicago is likely done adding to the starting staff unless an opportunistic deal falls the ballclub’s way.

The sides were able to finalize the deal with Imanaga before his 45-day posting window to make the jump to the Majors from the Yokohama DeNA BayStars closed. Hoyer scouted Imagana in person as part of a trip to Japan in September and maintained contact throughout the offseason, but the talks ramped up quickly in recent days.

“We scouted him extensively. We have so many different scouts we had to go to watch him,” Hoyer said. “Things got really serious towards the end of the window. And I just think that's the nature of having a deadline.”

The contract guarantees $53 million over four seasons, per a source, but the pact gives the pitcher and ballclub multiple paths forward. After the 2025 and ‘26 seasons, Chicago will have the option to extend the deal to five years ($80 million total). If the deal is not extended in either offseason, Imanaga will have the right to elect free agency.

As part of the deal, the Cubs will also have to pay a posting fee to Yokohama of just under $10 million.

Imanaga’s free agency was overshadowed this offseason by fellow Japanese star Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the 25-year-old righty who netted a 12-year, $325 million pact with the Dodgers. Part of the reason is that Imanaga is entering the Majors at 30 years old, though he is widely considered a front-end rotation arm.

Throughout his free-agent process, Imanaga set up his offseason base in Chicago, spending time getting familiar with the city while being in a good geographic location to hold talks with various teams. The more he remained in Chicago, the more Imanaga began to feel at home and hoped the Cubs would come calling.

“I visited downtown and also other areas,” Imanaga said via his interpreter, Shingo Murata. “This is my first time in Chicago, but there are similarities of Japan. And in some ways I kind of want to say, ‘tadaima,’ which is something we say when we come home.”

Imanaga said he picked the brain of former Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish about both free agency and playing in Chicago. The lefty also enjoyed calling his new teammate, fellow Japanese star Seiya Suzuki, to deliver the news that he had joined the Cubs.

“He showed happiness as if this was happening to Seiya himself,” Imanaga said.

Imanaga is set to join a Cubs rotation that features lefty Justin Steele and right-handers Jameson Taillon and Kyle Hendricks. Behind that group is a growing list of younger arms offering depth for the rotation or bullpen, plus a pack of prospects waiting in the wings.

The general consensus is that Imanaga can immediately step in as a No. 2-3 caliber arm. Last year, while pitching for Yokohama in Nippon Professional Baseball, Imanaga spun a 2.80 ERA in 148 innings with a league-leading 174 strikeouts (Yamamoto was close behind with 169 punchouts).

“What excites me is, one, what he has accomplished already,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “And then just in like everything that I've watched, and when you look through kind of the statline, it's just like this is a very skilled pitcher.”

Imanaga was also a standout during Japan’s run to the 2023 World Baseball Classic crown. The left-hander showed off his four-pitch mix with seven strikeouts and no walks in six innings in the tournament. That included working the first two frames in the championship game victory over Team USA.

Across eight seasons in the NPB, Imanaga posted a 3.18 ERA over 1,002 2/3 innings, including a 2.53 ERA with 306 strikeouts over 291 2/3 innings in 2022 and ‘23. He leans heavily on a low-to-mid 90s fastball while featuring a splitter, slider and curve, a repertoire that have helped him rack up strikeouts with a controlled walk rate.

“I am by no means a finished product and there's a lot for me to learn,” Imanaga said.

And he hopes that process will lead to the type of parade Zobrist and the ‘16 team got to experience.

“To Cubs fans,” the pitcher said in English. “I'm going to do my best to contribute to the Cubs winning the World Series. I look forward to meeting you at Wrigley Field.”